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The next WirralSmarts car

For those that don't know, a week before Christmas last year, my 2002 mk5 City-Coupe was involved in an accident that resulted in it being written off (great timing... not). The result of that is that I've decided to go back into ForFour ownership having had a brief stint with one a few years ago.

So after browsing around, I did a round trip about about 600 miles to pick up a 2004 ForFour 1.3 S-A Passion. After the more frantic sounding engine of the 450, the 1.3 engine in this is just relaxing, the gearbox works seamlessly (feels snappier than the 450 box) and ride is just that little bit more cosseting than the 450 (especially over pot holes). The only dealer fitted option (so far as I can see) is there are 6 speakers in the car including the tweeters in the doors. Otherwise, another basic car.

It will not be staying that way. I've been buying bits in preparation for this, including:

Genuine Armrest

Radio 6 rather than the Radio 5 in the car

Genuine Interior Cup Holder

Coolant and Clock dash pods

An original handsfree phone kit (I know this supports relatively ancient Siemens phones but I vary rarely use a mobile anyway)

Genuine rear parking sensors

...along with a few other pieces. A few of the panels are also looking a bit "parking scrapey" so I might paint this one as well. Something very loud I think. I want to simply upgrade it first and then do the custom stuff a little later on.

Hey Everyone,
So having had the car for darn near a month, I think it is time to start the inevitable modding. First things first, I thought I start with some of the interior stuff by adding in the dash pods and trying out the replacement speedometer in the car.

Speedometer try out
This was really, really easy. The 450 speedometer put up more of a fight than the 454 speedometer did. Two T20s later, lower the steering wheel and a smooth pull and the speedometer came out. Changed the speedometer over and then started the car. The whole thing sprung to life.

...and then I put the original back. The mileage is wrong, the speedometer must have come from a manual and it has diesel fascias. These are aren't insurmountable but the lack of control over the second screen is a bigger issue. Then again, it is part of a rebuild of a Multifunction steering wheel I am doing so I wasn't too bothered at the moment, I just wanted to see what would happen.

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Update: DO NOT DO THIS LIGHTLY. When I put the original speedometer back into the car, the mileage on the original speedometer suddenly read the mileage of the other speedometer and the engine warning light has come (although this went off after one trip). I can only assume this is a measure to always assume the higher of the values from the speedometer and the ECU. I was expecting the behaviour from the 450/452 speedometer.

I went to Mercedes about this and they claimed it wasn't possible to change the mileage (despite me having asked them over a week ago). A trip to an independent and they said it was but they needed the replacement speedometer. Gah.
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Dash pods
This has turned into a bit of a nightmare to be honest. I want to get the damn things screwed in, which I think means removing the dashboard. Having removed all the screwheads running along the bottom of the dashboard where the speedometer screws where (and the hidden one behind the speedometer itself), the dash will not move.

There appears that there might be some behind the glovebox so I tried to remove it but can I get the LH side of the bin to come out? No.

With the weather not being helpful, I am going to shelve the dash pod fitting for now.
I think they can be fitted without removing the dash but it would really, really bug me that they were not screwed down anyway. Besides, it is all useful stuff to know.

It suddenly occurred to me that the radio needs to come out to do this so...

Removing the Radio 5 unit
Key word in starting this appears to be physics. Got the dial knobs and the black fascias off with a long reach torx bit and a bit of leverage. The rest was pretty straightforward with a bit of brute force to get the cowling off.

Now have a big hole in the dash for the Radio 6 unit but need to makeup a ISO to Quadlock connector.

They did a polish of it and now it has passed but to be honest, the polish was a bit of a rush I think (the front certainly has not come off) as the main beams hadn't been done. Still, it passed though there is also an advisory for the rear brake pads.

Before (click on the link):

After (click on the link):

Hmm... looks like I'll be doing a more through job later on in the year. Also, the speedometer mileage conundrum has concluded. The mileage is going to stay at 154k as that is what is recorded on the MOT. I might be able to argue with VOSA on that one but it is a lot of hassle for something I am not going to sell for a llllloooonnnggg time yet so what is the point? I know what my car has and has not done.

One surprising aspect of the MOT was the emission data. For a car that apparently had not been serviced in two years, it seemed to be pretty good from where I was sitting:

Dashboard
I've reinstated the radio on the car but left the cowling off for the moment just to make it easy enough to dismantle the centre again when I do get the pods in. Still got to work on that glovebox... :P

Wheels
I went and got a set of 14 inch steel wheels for my car and like my last 450, these are going to be sorted out to put on the car. I did consider banding them but a bit too much hassle at the moment plus, the kerbs in my street are relatively uneven. Moondiscs (again, following on from the last 450) are an option but the last set won't fit (one flew off as well ) and I want to avoid going down that route anyway.

Maybe power-coat them in anthracite grey (to match the Tridion) with polished nuts? Two of the outer rims on the wheels need mending anyway (slightly bent... the woes of second hand parts).

Servicing the engine this or next weekend, giving the engine bay a damned good clean as I go so when I get to the Ace Cafe, it will look tidier than it is now! If I get time, continue with the dashboard and figure out why my rear interior light is not lighting up.

Longer term, I've been playing around with colour schemes and this is the one I like at the moment...

Trouble is, I don't really want to make a CityFlame (451 special edition) copycat... might need to work on it for the moment.

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